The end of one great thing and on to another well, sorta

How awesome is it to be free and clear of a car payment? For us it has been awesome for over 3 years now. Well it was, till recently we discovered being up here in the big city has brought us to the reality that we can't just get away with one vehicle anymore. So the question then comes.."how much will this cost us?" We didn't want another family car. It had to give us better gas mileage. It had to be 'the right price', and something we could afford. After looking for a while we found it....

A 2006 pontiac G6. It's great. It's fast, and the gas mileage is fantastic!

So what was the end of the great thing? Well how disturbing to have this happen, but exactly 7 days after we bought this baby...we lost our family car in an accident.

It was late. Jason was on his way home from work and this young kid was just not paying attention. Jason was sitting at a complete stop waiting to get off the highway.. and the kid slammed into the back of him...only to push him into the vehicle sitting directly in front of him, hitting us both ends. Needless to say.......TOTALLED!

Oh it was a sad, sad day. Of course being the matter that our van was a 1999, and worth nothing, and we had just spent mega mula on the other new car, we had to take what the other insurance company offered and buy what we could with it. Say hello to our 2003 Dodge caravan. (The resemblance is uncanny isn't it?)

It's not top notch, but it runs great and we belive it has a lot of miles left in it.

More ham please....

This kid is always making me laugh. He is just so spontaneous and on the spot funny it's almost rediculous. Here is some of the funny stuff he pulls......


His pictures either consist of sticking out the tongue, or striking a funny pose. Always with a silly face.......

Imagine this face:


With this pose, while the hair clip is in his hair, and the most funniest voice ever, moving his hips around saying "look I'm a girl", totally mocking girls......

He is our famous 'build a tower out of anything' kid, see what I mean.......

and again here striking a pose begging me to take his picture.

I love this kid! There is definately never a dull day with him.

Valentines treats

Here is a look at the fun treats we made for Valentines. So easy and fun to do.

Valentines day fun

Cierra had a contest in her school class for decorated valentines boxes. We came up with this design 2 days before.


side view of box, made with candy hearts

top view of box...giant smackers, (glossed with candy sprinkles)..

Cierra with her prize for having the "biggest lip smacker" box. She was so proud!

Not dead

I haven't died or fallen off the earth or anything.... I just don't have internet for the moment. It's been hard, but Im living.

Keep checking in for more stories on US! Coming soon to a blogsite you know as "Earl Adventures".

Some new advice for 2010

2010 Handbook

Heath:

1. Drink plenty of water
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a beggar
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants
4. Live with the 3 E's- Energy, Entusiasm, Empathy
5. Make time to pray
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2009
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours
10. Take 20-30 minute walks daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:

11. Dont compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive moment.
13. Don't over do, keep your limits
14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Dont' waste you precious energy on gossip
16. Dream more while you are awake
17. Envy is a waste of time. you already have all you need
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin you present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others
20. Make peace with the past so it won't spoil the present
21. No one is in chare ofyour happiness except you
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.....

Society:

25. Call your family often
26. Each day give somthing good to others
27. Forgive everyone for everything
28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day
30. What other people think of you is none of your business
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch

Life:

32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beutiful, or joyful
34. GOD heals everything
35. However good or bad the situation is, it will change
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up
37. The best is yet to come
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it
39. Your inner most is always happy. So, be happy

Last but not least:

40. Remember the golden rule